Dialectical thinking leads reader to vote Democrat

Oct. 26, 2007

Written by

Scott MacKay, Asheville

Around the time the U.S. was founded, during the Enlightenment, the principles of dialectics were discovered. In the real world, we develop ideas in a process of debate. If I propose an idea, you argue its weaknesses, and then we compromise. Dialectical thinking is how knowledge is created. This is basically how City Council works on each issue. The outcome of the Ellington debate, the proposal, a counter and a compromise, is a moment of good fortune for Asheville. How this will benefit our town will depend on how council makes decisions. They will propose a vision for our community distilled from our collective vision, implement its construction, and act as its stewards. The process is the outcome. The outcome is democracy.When I vote, I am betting that my candidate will do this, and I want all the information I can get that suggests how my candidate will approach this vision. If there is a group that has demonstrated their familiarity with dialectics, and its ramification of systemic logic, I know certain other things about them. They will know that ideology is invariably destructive, and that hegemony is neither desirable nor possible. I donít mind if they call themselves Democrats.